Radar is used in a variety of situations including many down-looking applications, i.e., applications where an air or space borne radar platform is used to direct signals downwardly towards the ground. Such down-looking systems are used in or have been proposed for a variety of applications, including terrain mapping and moving target detection and tracking. For target tracking and other applications that include moving or time-dependent elements, multi-channel radar systems are generally preferred. Multi-channel systems typically involve at least one radar signal source and two or more detector elements. The source emits radar pulses that reflect off of the target as well as ground clutter and are received by the detector elements. By comparing phase differences between the return signals detected by the various elements, ranging and direction information can be obtained for the target.
An important multi-channel radar system application relates to distinguishing target information from ground clutter. One technique for identifying targets having time-dependent effects involves obtaining multiple radar samples at the same point in space but at different times. This can be accomplished, for example, by using a multi-channel system where the detector elements for the various channels are spaced apart relative to a travel path of the radar platform. The radar pulses can be synchronized relative to the travel speed and detector element spacing; such that at least two detector elements obtain samples at substantially the same point in space at different times (e.g., time separated by an integer multiple of the pulsing period). The resulting samples for a given location can then be compared e.g., by using digital subtraction algorithms, to suppress background clutter (that has no time dependency) relative to moving target data (that changes position over time). In practice, the actual processing algorithms involved are more complicated and account for signal beam width, geometric anomalies related to platform attitude variations relative to the flight path, and other complicating factors. A second multi-channel application involves no moving targets but seeks instead to increase the area coverage rate of a terrain mapping system by means of a technique known as vernier array.
New multi-channel radar related equipment and processes are continuously under development. Although such equipment and processes can be modeled theoretically, to some extent, it is generally desired to assess performance based on radar data prior to real-world implementation. The most direct way to conduct such testing is to build a bench model and fly the radar equipment to obtain data. However, this is also very expensive and time consuming. There is therefore a need for a convenient and realistic source of multi-channel radar data for testing purposes.